Krio as the Western Maroon Creole language of Jamaica, and the /na/ isogloss
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Norval Smith
Abstract
The nominal copula na appears uniquely in two sets of Atlantic English-lexifier creole languages: a) in what is called the Maroon Spirit Language used among the Eastern Maroons of Jamaica. Now confined to ritual use, it was formerly the daily language of the Eastern Maroons; b) in Krio, spoken in Sierra Leone and Fernando Po, and other places.
I will show that the contexts in which it is used are parallel in the two groups, both syntactically and semantico-pragmatically. I hypothesize that there can only be one explanation for this fact. Krio hails ultimately from the language of the Western Maroons of Jamaica who were exiled to Sierra Leone.
Abstract
The nominal copula na appears uniquely in two sets of Atlantic English-lexifier creole languages: a) in what is called the Maroon Spirit Language used among the Eastern Maroons of Jamaica. Now confined to ritual use, it was formerly the daily language of the Eastern Maroons; b) in Krio, spoken in Sierra Leone and Fernando Po, and other places.
I will show that the contexts in which it is used are parallel in the two groups, both syntactically and semantico-pragmatically. I hypothesize that there can only be one explanation for this fact. Krio hails ultimately from the language of the Western Maroons of Jamaica who were exiled to Sierra Leone.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part 1. The sociohistorical matrix of language contact
- Population factors, multilingualism and the emergence of grammar 23
- The African diaspora in Latin America 49
- The sociohistorical matrix of creolization and the role children played in this process 79
- Creole as necessity? Creole as choice? 101
- Bahamian Creole English 123
- Linguistic commonality in English of the African diaspora 145
- Historical separations 177
-
Part 2. Sources of grammar and processes of language contact
- Some observations on the sources of AAVE structure 203
- Unity in diversity 225
- Krio as the Western Maroon Creole language of Jamaica, and the /na/ isogloss 251
- Number marking in Jamaican Patwa 275
- Variationist creolistics, with a phonological focus 305
- Pidginization versus second language acquisition 323
- Crosslinguistic effects in adjectivization strategies in Suriname, Ghana and Togo 343
- Author index 363
- Language index 365
- Subject index 367
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part 1. The sociohistorical matrix of language contact
- Population factors, multilingualism and the emergence of grammar 23
- The African diaspora in Latin America 49
- The sociohistorical matrix of creolization and the role children played in this process 79
- Creole as necessity? Creole as choice? 101
- Bahamian Creole English 123
- Linguistic commonality in English of the African diaspora 145
- Historical separations 177
-
Part 2. Sources of grammar and processes of language contact
- Some observations on the sources of AAVE structure 203
- Unity in diversity 225
- Krio as the Western Maroon Creole language of Jamaica, and the /na/ isogloss 251
- Number marking in Jamaican Patwa 275
- Variationist creolistics, with a phonological focus 305
- Pidginization versus second language acquisition 323
- Crosslinguistic effects in adjectivization strategies in Suriname, Ghana and Togo 343
- Author index 363
- Language index 365
- Subject index 367
